Two Grad rockets fired at southern Israel on Saturday night; one explodes in open area in Beersheba, other hits street in Netivot. Resident escapes injury by running into bathroom. 'The entire house collapsed on me,' he tells Ynet

Ilana Curiel |Published: 09.09.12 , 07:07

Two Grad rockets were fired Saturday night at southern Israel.
One of the rockets hit a street in the town of Netivot, while the second one exploded in an open area in Beersheba.

Two houses were badly damaged in Netivot, but luckily there were no injuries in the attack. One of the residents whose house was hit escaped injury by running into the bathroom. "The entire house collapsed on me," he said later.

Several people suffered from shock. A Netivot resident who lives near the rocket landing site said after the attack, "Luckily, no one was injured. It was a real miracle."

Grad rocket in Netivot (Photo: Elias Levi)

Damage caused by explosion (Photo: Eliad Levi)

'Luckily there were no injuries' (Photo: Eliad Levi)

Netivot resident Pini Azoulay was asleep in one of the building hit by the rocket. He awoke to the sound of the air raid siren.

"I ran towards the bathroom, which is relatively sheltered," he recounted. "There was an explosion; the entire house was destroyed."

Luckily, his life was saved thanks to a concrete ceiling in the bathroom. "I came out from the wreckage, and the entire house collapsed on me," he told Ynet shortly after the attack. "It's scary."

The owner of the other house hit in the attack, Eliyahu Avitan, said the entire building was destroyed. "People were supposed to be sleeping in this house, but fortunately they didn't show up in the end," he said with tears in his eyes.

Netivot Mayor Yehiel Zohar arrived at the scene of the attack. "We've been lucky," he said, "but that doesn't always happen."

Magen David Adom rescue forces attended to six people who suffered from shock in Beersheba and three in Netivot.

Netivot residents. Attack disrupts peaceful night (Photo: Eliad Levi)

Beersheba residents breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that the rocket hit an unpopulated area, but one of them expressed the widespread feeling: "We've had enough of living in fear."

Residents told Ynet they woke up to the sounds of "a whistle and a loud blast."

Only two days ago, on Friday morning, two rockets hit open fields in the Netivot area. There were no injuries. The rocket fire was resumed over the weekend after the Israel Defense Forces increased its attacks in Gaza and assassinated a series of terrorist cells.

On Thursday, the IDF thwarted an attempt to place an explosive device near the border fence. An Air Force aircraft fired at a terrorist cell in the northern Gaza Strip, killing three gunmen.

On Wednesday, the Air Force killed three terrorists
making final preparations to launch rockets from the central Strip. According to the IDF, this cell was also involved in firing additional rockets at southern Israel.